According to the latest statistics issued by the Office of National Statistics:

'The unemployment rate was 8.3% of the economically active population, down 0.1 on the quarter. There were 2.65 million unemployed people, down 35,000 on the quarter. This is the first quarterly fall in unemployment since the three months to May 2011.'

Dr Neil Bentley, CBI Deputy Director-General, said:

'It's good news that 53,000 more people are in work now than three months ago, which shows that the private sector is gradually regaining confidence to hire.'

'While this is the best jobs news we've had in a year, the Government must step up its welfare reform programme. Worryingly, over a third of those unemployed have been out of work for more than 12 months.'

'With youth jobless numbers still stubbornly high, helping young people find jobs must remain a joint priority for businesses and government.'